Interview with Ricardo Lugris

Ricardo Lugris, Senior Sales Director of Embraer Aircraft Company of Brazil joined Russia Today to discuss the advantages of Brazilian-made planes for such a continental country like Russia.

Russia Today: Russian Atlant-Soyuz charter air company signed a deal to purchase 15 mid-range passenger planes from Embraer. Could you please tell us more about this deal and Embraer operations?

Ricardo Lugris: Atlant-Soyuz has procured 12 Embraer-120 planes in the American market. Those are pre-owned airplanes. We're very happy they've made this choice. These are superb and very fast airplanes. They will start the operation in Russia soon. They can count on our support as our first operator in Russia.

RT: How do you see Russian mid-range market developing? They say it is going to be the fastest-growing sector over next 20 years.

R.L.: We produce a range of the fast, very comfortable and efficient jets for 70 to 120 passengers. It is a family of 4 airplanes which has been very successful in the market. We launched those 4 years ago and now we have achieved more than 650 airplanes sold. We have more than 300 airplanes in operation with airlines like Air France, Alitalia, US Airways, Air Canada, LOT, Finnair, etc. We are very happy with this success of this line, considering the Russian market which is one of the fastest growing markets for this type of airplanes. There is a huge need for capacity for new airplanes in this market. We are very much looking into it. We are convinced we have the best product to be sold in Russia because our airplanes have a good range of 4000 kilometers which is very much needed in the continental country like Russia. Embraer is a Brazilian company. We also come from a continental country and know what distances mean.